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MercFanUk

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Hi all - does anyone know of a speed test site that can handle very large speeds during evenings without lagging due to server loads?

Want to make sure its not my line that is at fault and it's the speed test sites instead...

Tried the BBMax and Speedtest.net sites - but they show fluctuating speeds in the evenings. Also tried Virgin Media's own speed tester but that's borked at the moment.

I've had my line checked and it all looks tickety boo, but I don't always trust engineers over the phone.
 
I use
Broadband Speed Checker - THE UK's No.1 Broadband Speed Test

47578167.png




Having said that, the fluctuations are normal and are due to the fact that you share your ADSL bandwidth with other subscribers in your area.

As a general rule, the Contention Ratios are as follows:

Home broadband - 50:1
Low-cost business broadband - 20:1
High-end business broadband - 5:1
Specialist ADSL and Fibre - 1:1

So depending on your broadband package you may be sharing your bandwidth with up to 50 users in your area, which explains why it is overloaded in the evenings (and probably on weekends too).
 
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On re-reading, it seems you are with Virgin Media? Their Internet is cable-based, and I don't know what contention ratios they use - best to ask them this question.
 
I use Speedtest.net Excellent.
Make sure you click the pingtest as well, as this will check for packet loss and Latency, which many people forget about. This can be worse than having poor internet speed as web pages wont show correctly etc.
If you developing in IE8, and want to view or wonder why you get issues, (IE7 as an example), then dont forget IE7 ie full of Javascript bugs. (just in case lol)

:)
 
I use Speedtest.net Excellent.
Make sure you click the pingtest as well, as this will check for packet loss and Latency, which many people forget about. This can be worse than having poor internet speed as web pages wont show correctly etc.
If you developing in IE8, and want to view or wonder why you get issues, (IE7 as an example), then dont forget IE7 ie full of Javascript bugs. (just in case lol)

:)


Interesting.... on my home PC Speedtest is showing better results than broadbandspeedchecker...

75248359.png
 
Try using visualware's speedtest as they have better diagnostics and information on quality etc.
 
Thanks all :) The contention isnt an issue - the exchange I'm on when maxed out with local users is currently only using a quarter of it's potential so no issues to be had there.

Just ran a test on the speed test site now and got normal speeds (Well, upload was slower than normal, but I'll live lol)

1208156822.png


But during the evening most sites report anywhere from 50 to 80... while speaking to the techs they see nothing untoward at that time, contention is super low etc. Only thing we can think of is that the speed test sites are just not up to handling these kind of speeds at peak times yet.

Also, ping tests are fine, comes out grade A with 0 loss every time.

These are the speeds I get when the servers are super quiet in the morning:

1207459834.png
 
Last edited:
I use
Broadband Speed Checker - THE UK's No.1 Broadband Speed Test

47578167.png




Having said that, the fluctuations are normal and are due to the fact that you share your ADSL bandwidth with other subscribers in your area.

As a general rule, the Contention Ratios are as follows:

Home broadband - 50:1
Low-cost business broadband - 20:1
High-end business broadband - 5:1
Specialist ADSL and Fibre - 1:1

So depending on your broadband package you may be sharing your bandwidth with up to 50 users in your area, which explains why it is overloaded in the evenings (and probably on weekends too).

Tried that site, but it never brings anywhere near my speeds at any time of day - not sure this sites up to modern standards...
 
Thanks all :) The contention isnt an issue - the exchange I'm on when maxed out with local users is currently only using a quarter of it's potential so no issues to be had there.

Just ran a test on the speed test site now and got normal speeds (Well, upload was slower than normal, but I'll live lol)

1208156822.png


But during the evening most sites report anywhere from 50 to 80... while speaking to the techs they see nothing untoward at that time, contention is super low etc. Only thing we can think of is that the speed test sites are just not up to handling these kind of speeds at peak times yet.

Also, ping tests are fine, comes out grade A with 0 loss every time.

These are the speeds I get when the servers are super quiet in the morning:

1207459834.png


I hope your super fast connection melts your computer....:D:D:D

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1208177345.png
 
What you may also find is that VM limits the number of connections you can make at certain times... oh yeah, and they do layer7 inspection...

So depending on what you're doing, and what the load on VM's inspection servers are you may find you go faster or slower just for the sake of it...

M.
 
What you may also find is that VM limits the number of connections you can make at certain times... oh yeah, and they do layer7 inspection...

So depending on what you're doing, and what the load on VM's inspection servers are you may find you go faster or slower just for the sake of it...

M.

It's possible, although the team did seem pretty knowledgeable so I'm hoping that that's something they'd have taken into account when talking to them - but then again, they are still just trained CSA's so you may be right lol
 
Why don't you us a US server as benchmark?

Access speed may be lower, however you can compare the consistency of the results with those of the UK speed check servers, as the US servers will fluctuate at different times compared to the UK servers...?
 
Why don't you us a US server as benchmark?

Access speed may be lower, however you can compare the consistency of the results with those of the UK speed check servers, as the US servers will fluctuate at different times compared to the UK servers...?

That's a damn fine idea! Thanks, will try it :D
 
I always had perfect results when I was on 50mb - but the faster speed doesn't bode well on the results when people are running the tests more at a time. I'm guessing the server bursts aren't capable at that time of day.

That My broadband speed site thinks I have an 8mb connection...
 
Hmm weird works fine on my 50mb connection and it is what the support staff on Virgins forum recommend to test with.
 

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